The Gabrielinos

The Gabrielinos lived on Santa Catalina, San Clemente, San Nicholas, and
on the mainland in what is now the Los Angeles basin and surrounding
valleys. Their ancestors came to California from the Great Basin of North
America ( Southern Oregon and Nevada ) and spoke a Shoshonean dialect or
the Uto-Aztecan language, much different than the language of the Chumash
who were the existing inhabitants to their north. There is archeological
evidence that Native Americans were living in what became the Shoshonean
region as far as back as 10,000 years ago, and the specific date of the
Shoshonean’s arrival is not known. Archeologists have found that there
were prehistoric settlements up and down the coast of the Los Angeles
basin, from Malibu in the north past Laguna Beach in the south, and inland
to the San Gabriel Mountain foothills. The Gabrielino village names -
Xujungna, Tovemunga and Kingingna - are noticeably different than the
Chumash language place names.

The early Gabrielinos lived by gathering roots and seeds, hunting wild
deer and antelope, by fishing and by shellfish harvesting on the
mainland. They came to learn to build plank canoes from their neighbors to
the north, the Chumash. And eventually they migrated out onto Santa
Catalina Island. The tomol enabled the Gabrielino to begin fishing deeper
waters for shark, bonito, halibut, sardines and yellow tail fish. The
islanders brought steatite back to the mainland to trade for seeds, deer
hide and rabbit skin, continuing the link between the island and mainland
peoples through ongoing trade. The Gabrielinos had their own art, music
and cosmology - and their distinctive art forms were sand paintings and
rock art.

Migration across the Channel to the islands can be dated from charcoal
deposits at Little Harbor on Santa Catalina that date back 4-5,000 years,
neighboring San Nicholas Island was also heavily occupied 2,500 - 4,000
years ago, and findings on San Clemente date back further to nearly 10,000
years ago. It is probable that these earliest remains are from native
peoples who preceded the Shoshonean group on the islands - most likely
relatives of the Chumash group to the north. The most recent native
islanders are believed to have arrived on the Southern Channel Islands
approximately 2,500 years ago.